It was nearly 7 in the afternoon on November 24 in Garden Lodge, the splendid home where the frontman of Queen lived in Kensington, one of the most beautiful districts of London which reveals all its wonder in autumn. Freddie Mercury he died at the age of only 45, surrounded by friends and closest collaborators, inside a villa surrounded by a crowd of photographers and reporters, who had rushed there in search of news on the scandalous disease that the singer had revealed just over 24 hours earlier to have, ending years of speculation and gossip. “I would like to confirm that I have tested positive for HIV and that I have contracted AIDS. The time has come to let my friends and fans know the truth and I hope they will join me, my doctors and those around the world in the fight against this terrible disease,” Mercury said in a press release, aware by now that everyone would have come to know the truth anyway.
On the death certificate, on the other hand, it was clearly written: "bronchopneumonia caused by AIDS". They passed exactly 30 years since his death and Freddie Mercury continues to be one of the biggest stars the music business has ever been lucky enough to hear. Over the years, around his voice, that same voice that even came to be studied by a team of researchers ready to grasp every secret, it has become a cult. On the other hand, no one had been able to resist his incredible vocal range, much less guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor, who after hearing him sing for a few minutes decided to welcome him with open arms in their band, renamed Queen at Mercury's suggestion.
The first album arrived three years later, in 1973, but for the real success of the four musicians (in the meantime bassist John Deacon had also joined the band) they had to wait until 1975, the year in which the now legendary "A Night at the Opera” than with his "Bohemian Rhapsody" enchanted the world. From that moment on and for over a decade the band strung together one success after another, from "Somebody to Love" to "Radio Ga Ga", passing through "We are the Champions", "Don't Stop Me Now" , “Love of my Life”, without forgetting the collaboration with David Bowie in “Under Pressure”.
But if the studio production was always prolific, it was in concert that the band gave its best, carried away by the irresistible charisma of its frontman. Legendary remain the images of Wembley Live Aid 85, one of the most iconic concerts in rock history in which Queen, by Elton John's own admission, "stole the show from everyone". Not to mention Live at Wembley the following year or Queen's last live concert at Knebworth Park, on 9 August 1986, in front of 120 spectators.
And it is no coincidence that a few months after his death, on April 20, 1992, dozens of colleagues decided to pay homage to him just like that, with another concert that became legendary held in what had by now become his second home, Wembley Stadium in London. The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert was attended by Tony Iommi, Metallica, Guns N' Roses, David Bowie, Roger Daltrey, Robert Plant, George Michael, Zucchero, Elton John, Lisa Stansfield, Annie Lennox, Elizabeth Taylor, Seal, Liza Minnelli, Extreme, Def Leppard and U2 via satellite. The event, broadcast on TV, was seen by beyond a billion people.
"I have lived a full life and if I were to die I wouldn't care because I did everything I wanted to, really,” the singer said in December 1987.
“He lived to the fullest. She devoured life. And how a big comet, he left a trail of light that will shine for generations,” Brian May said in remembrance. He was right, and 30 years after the death of Freddie Mercury the world of music stops, once again, to celebrate the comet more brilliant than him.
